Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
Volume 376, Issue 2125, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2018.0140
Keywords
Andreev reflection; Andreev scattering; Andreev spectroscopy; unconventional superconductivity; Josephson junctions
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation
- [DMR-1508730]
- [PHY-1734332]
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Many of the properties of superconductors related to quantum coherence are revealed when the superconducting state is forced to vary in space-in response to an external magnetic field, a proximity contact, an interface to a ferromagnet or to impurities embedded in the superconductor. Among the earliest examples is Andreev reflection of an electron into a retro-reflected hole at a normal-superconducting interface. In regions of strong inhomogeneity, multiple Andreev reflection leads to the formation of sub-gap states, Andreev bound states, with excitation energies below the superconducting gap. These states play a central role in our understanding of inhomogeneous superconductors. The discoveries of unconventional superconductivity in many classes of materials, advances in fabrication of superconducting/ferromagnetic hybrids and nanostructures for confining superfluid He-3, combined with theoretical developments in topological quantum matter have dramatically expanded the significance of branch conversion scattering and Andreev bound state formation. This collection of articles highlights developments in inhomogeneous superconductivity, unconventional superconductivity and topological phases of superfluid He-3, in which Andreev scattering and bound states underpin much of the physics of these systems. This article provides an introduction to the basic physics of Andreev scattering, boundstate formation and their signatures. The goal is both an introduction for interested readers who are not already experts in the field, and to highlight examples in which branch conversion scattering and Andreev bound states provide unique signatures in the transport properties of superconductors.
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